The following description of the background of the invention is provided simply as an aid in understanding the invention and is not admitted to describe or constitute prior art to the invention.
The present invention relates generally to the field of integrated circuit manufacturing and testing. Specifically, the present invention is directed toward a detection apparatus and method for determining the position and orientation of an integrated circuit (IC) device.
Many techniques have been developed for detecting the position of an object such as an integrated circuit. For example, lasers have been used in position detection applications. U.S. Pat. No. 5,424,823 discloses a system that uses reflected energy signals sensed by light detecting optics to identify flat surfaces that are orthogonal to the detecting optics. U.S. Pat. No. 5,780,839 discloses a laser cross body and feature curvature tracker, which steers a beam of laser energy which is dithered in two directions to scan the surface of a moving object. A laser energy detector senses the reflected laser energy from the target to track the features. U.S. Pat. No. 5,436,724 discloses a diffraction grating including a light beam that is used to measure the relevant movement of an object.